Landscape Matters Issue 4 FINAL - Flipbook - Page 6
and mediation and define a new authentic, hopeful and imaginative truth. It needs to climb out of itself, show greater humility and compassion, be open to wider discourses and welcome
genuine and enduring collaboration with other creative disciplines as well as actively seeking out opportunities for enriching community dialogues.
Landscape architects are part of a process; landscape design
and designed landscapes are interventions in a process bigger than themselves. It is all about the context and this merits
significant exploration. We, like goats, are part of the bigger
picture.
We live in relation to, and in relationship with, others. This includes the living, the non-living and the stuff that supports life.
Much of our existence is dependent upon reciprocity; of give
and take. As we are beginning to understand, if an exchange is
unfair, imposed or imbalanced, there is often trouble. So, landscape architects need to pay more attention. We need to listen
more acutely and we need to see context not just in terms of
the immediacy of place, but as a series of layered dimensions
and interwoven narratives. Much of context is hidden from
view: in the stories held in the landscape, in memories, in lived
experiences (including our own), in the lost, the forgotten and
the unknown, in the silence and the din and in the banality and
beauty of the ordinary and the everyday. We are all too quick
to dismiss these qualities because we either don’t actually
look carefully enough or we fail to see them as having intrinsic
value and relevance to our work. And this is a problem because in ignoring them, we are ignoring the fundamentals of
life – including our own lives – and perpetuating a frustrating
and increasing disconnection from the rich potential of our
thoughtful and thought-provoking purpose.
Above:
Thomas Thwaites 'taking a holiday
from being human'.
At this point, I am reminded of Thomas Thwaites who, in 2016,
‘took a holiday from being human’ and became a goat in the
Alps for a few days. Literally. His quest was to get outside of
himself and experience the world from a completely different
perspective. We don't all need to become goats, but for all of
our contemporary sophistication, we are still part of the magic
of nature and, as many of us will acknowledge, taking notice
